The first thing I want us to depart from is the idea that there are only two types of ways of dealing with religion. Either it is a strong, unwavering faith OR it is atheism. Either we are beholden and accepting of miracles OR miracles never occur. With that in mind, I want to invite us to a journey comparing Passover with Purim.
(ה) שֶׂ֥ה תָמִ֛ים זָכָ֥ר בֶּן־שָׁנָ֖ה יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֑ם מִן־הַכְּבָשִׂ֥ים וּמִן־הָעִזִּ֖ים תִּקָּֽחוּ׃ (ו) וְהָיָ֤ה לָכֶם֙ לְמִשְׁמֶ֔רֶת עַ֣ד אַרְבָּעָ֥ה עָשָׂ֛ר י֖וֹם לַחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֑ה וְשָׁחֲט֣וּ אֹת֗וֹ כֹּ֛ל קְהַ֥ל עֲדַֽת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בֵּ֥ין הָעַרְבָּֽיִם׃ (ז) וְלָֽקְחוּ֙ מִן־הַדָּ֔ם וְנָֽתְנ֛וּ עַל־שְׁתֵּ֥י הַמְּזוּזֹ֖ת וְעַל־הַמַּשְׁק֑וֹף עַ֚ל הַבָּ֣תִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁר־יֹאכְל֥וּ אֹת֖וֹ בָּהֶֽם׃ (ח) וְאָכְל֥וּ אֶת־הַבָּשָׂ֖ר בַּלַּ֣יְלָה הַזֶּ֑ה צְלִי־אֵ֣שׁ וּמַצּ֔וֹת עַל־מְרֹרִ֖ים יֹאכְלֻֽהוּ׃ (יד) וְהָיָה֩ הַיּ֨וֹם הַזֶּ֤ה לָכֶם֙ לְזִכָּר֔וֹן וְחַגֹּתֶ֥ם אֹת֖וֹ חַ֣ג לַֽיהוָ֑ה לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם חֻקַּ֥ת עוֹלָ֖ם תְּחָגֻּֽהוּ׃
(5) Your lamb shall be without blemish, a yearling male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. (6) You shall keep watch over it until the fourteenth day of this month; and all the assembled congregation of the Israelites shall slaughter it at twilight. (7) They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they are to eat it. (8) They shall eat the flesh that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. ... (14) This day shall be to you one of remembrance: you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD throughout the ages; you shall celebrate it as an institution for all time.
When is the decree promulgated? Not on the 13 of Adar, but on the 13th of Nissan - that is the chodesh harishon. So in almost a year, in ELEVEN months the Jews are warned that there will be this destruction.
(15) Then Esther sent back this answer to Mordecai: (16) “Go, assemble all the Jews who live in Shushan, and fast in my behalf; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens will observe the same fast. Then I shall go to the king, though it is contrary to the law; and if I am to perish, I shall perish!” (17) So Mordecai went about [the city] and did just as Esther had commanded him.
And Mordecai [went about] transgressed — the law forbidding fasting on the first day of Passover. Since they decree was published on the 13th of Nissan, they fasted on the 14th , 15th, and 16th.
So this happens just after the promulgation - and Esther's fast is happening on the 14th, 15th and 16th of Nissan. Rashi will reread the verse that says "Mordechai went about, and reads yud-ayin-vet not as to cross over the city, which our actual English translation makes into a "went about", but as "to transgress"
Just to make clear - the contrast of what we are supposed to do in Pesach cannot be stronger when compared to what the Jews in Shushan had to do in that Pesach. In Pesach we are supposed to say - the good things, the seder, the feast, the security we have today are due to the fact that we had it horrible in Egypt, and God took us out with a strong hand, etc. But in that Pesach in Shushan what are they doing? They are NOT celebrating. They are fasting. They are actually saying - no, the past salvation does not apply. The future seems so dark and terrifying that we abandoned everything and we will fast. From where the Shushan Jews are sitting, it is grotesque to observe Pesach: the urgency of the present eclipses the beauty of the past.
Subversive Sequels in the Bible – by Judy Klitsner
her idea is that the commentary is made by retelling the story with a different character with words that make you refer to the previous story. So what is affirmed in the story of the Exodus, in the figure of Yosef specifically, is retold in a subversive way in the book of Esther. Researchers found 13 of such linguistic paralels. So let's look at a few of the paralels between Esther and Yosef.